“Ricky Carmichael’s Motocross Matchup Pro” – for the iPhone and Android – looks to bring the thrills of motocross racing into the palm of your hands.

While it’s labeled a racing game, it is not completely one. While racing is an important aspect of the game, there are many factors that lead to claiming victory over one’s opponent than simply crossing the finish line first.

The route to victory is a combination of four categories: race time, toolboxes picked up, tricks, and wrenches gathered. The race time is the largest factor. Players can earn up to 1,000 points depending on how much of a margin they beat their opponent. Every toolbox and wrench brings in an additional 100 and 5 points, respectively. And finally, doing a variety of tricks can accrue to large points. So in essence, you can still win if you’re slower by simply making sure you do everything else better.

The iPhone version responded well to my movements after I turned up the sensitivity quite a bit. I have little qualm about the gameplay – it’s smooth, enjoyable and passes the time when I sit on the light rail.

The biggest problem was finding opponents. At times it would take minutes before the network would find someone for me to compete against. This would happen regardless if I was on 3G or connected via wifi.

There is a fun role-playing aspect to the game, as you collect points in order to build up your character’s and your bike’s attributes.

There are two modes of play: practice and online head-to-head action. I would have loved to have seen a four-player battle mode or a true single player option. But I suppose that’s for the next incarnation.

Final grade: B
Despite some connection flaws, “Motocross Matchup Pro” stands out as one of the better motorcycle racing games available on handheld mobile devices. It’s fun to play and totally worth the dollar it costs.

Bonus tip: For the PC, if you are using a keyboard, the stunts are mapped to the numeric keypad: 1 to 4 and 6 to 9.

A&E reporter John Wenzel has covered a variety of topics for The Denver Post over the years, including video games, comedy, music and the fine arts. He's been playing and loving video games since his dad brought home a sweet ColecoVision in 1983. Catch him on PSN as beardsandgum.

Hugh got his start writing for the Cheyenne and Woodmen Edition newspapers in Colorado Springs. In 2011 he moved to Denver where he has written for Denver Urban Spectrum and Colorado Community Media’s Wheat Ridge Transcript. Hugh joined The Denver Post in 2014 as an editorial assistant.